As a company, we have continually strived to deliver the best possible training outcomes and to empower our learners to feel confident and assured when undertaking their own age assessments.
Current case law dictates that social workers have to be trained in age assessment, this is the first time an RQF qualification has set out practice guidelines on how learners can be trained to complete high quality age assessments.
Our aim is to make all Level 4 qualified practitioners capable to confidently lead an age assessment interview and produce a high-quality report that will stand up to scrutiny. The qualification builds on our existing training programme, breaks down the process in more detail, covers up to date case law and develops social work confidence in writing court standard reports.
Our Level 4 qualification is academically equivalent to the first year of a Batchelors degree, they are vocationally equivalent to existing management training qualifications.
No, but we would obviously love to have them on the course! As previously stated, case law states that social workers have to be trained in age assessment, the Level 4 Qualification will not only evidence that your social workers are trained but that they have also met standards set by the Government’s RQF.
Yes – we will still be offering our single day training, which is usually delivered over 1 day and is a great introduction to the age assessment process. Similar modules are covered but the Level 4 qualification goes into significantly more detail than the 1-day training course allows. There is a heavy focus on age assessment challenges and how to complete the assessment (and write it up) in a way that stands up to scrutiny.
The course comprises 30 hours of guided learning time in total, with delegates expected to complete a high-quality portfolio that meets the qualification criteria and reaches the set standard before gaining their certificate. Our course is delivered over 7 weeks, with live teaching days once a fortnight.
Learners will be required to attend 4 teaching days, delivered remotely via Microsoft Teams and asked to complete short assessment pieces (homework!) in between. At the end of the 7 weeks, participants will be required to submit a portfolio, which will be graded before being sent to an external quality assurer for assessment.
Our courses will be limited to 15 participants, to maximise the learning experience. They will be delivered to individual/independent social workers and to Local Authority Children’s Services who may wish to train a cohort of their own practitioners. Please do get in touch to see how we can facilitate this for you.
It is really important for us to find that perfect balance between getting the most out of the qualification whilst not putting social workers under additional pressure. We believe that we have developed a qualification that is going to enhance practitioners’ knowledge and expertise as well as provide them with the tools and resources to empower them to undertake their roles with confidence.
In order to achieve this, we use a wide variety of assessment methods that don’t overly rely on long essays. Our methods include group presentations, facilitated discussions, written work and report critiques to assess the practitioners as the qualification progresses. Learners will be required to submit a portfolio for assessment; therefore, participants will need to ensure they are able to commit to the qualification hours in conjunction with their work caseloads before starting the course.
The cost of the course will be £800 (+VAT) per learner.
4 live sessions, delivered via Microsoft Teams, two weeks apart (all Wednesday’s):
7th September 0930-1530
21st September 0930-1530
5th October 0930-1530
19th October 0930-1530
If you would like to sign on to the course, please contact us here and we can send you our booking form and further details.
We LOVE talking about age assessments, if you’ve got any questions about the new qualification drop us an email, we can talk for hours on this subject and will gladly answer as many questions as you can throw at us!
“The course has been delivered in a great way; Jo has welcomed questions and I feel people really got involved and added discussions. Jo’s experience and knowledge is evident so it has been great to challenge ourselves and consider ways we can improve. The training days have been really enjoyable”.
“Initially I was nervous about engaging in the training as I felt I had little experience in comparison to the others on the course. Jo always takes the time to respond to messages and is reassuring in regards to my capabilities. On the last day I faced some working challenges and Jo was completing understanding. I have taken so much from this course and feel much more confident in undertaking age assessments and want to take this opportunity to say thank you”.
“really enjoyed the training. presented in a way I understood; lots of resources and time for questions. learnt a lot”.
